The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo - Press Release Press Release The Nobel Peace Prize 2010 Liu Xiaobo Chinese [pdf] The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace. Such rights are a prerequisite for the "fraternity between nations" of which Alfred Nobel wrote in his will. Over the past decades, China has achieved economic advances to which history can hardly show any equal. The country now has the world's second largest economy; hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. Scope for political participation has also broadened. China's new status must entail increased responsibility. China is in breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory, as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights. Article 35 of China's constitution lays down that "Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration".

In practice, these freedoms have proved to be distinctly curtailed for China's citizens. For over two decades, Liu Xiaobo has been a strong spokesman for the application of fundamental human rights also in China. He took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989; he was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China which was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 10th of December 2008. The following year, Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison and two years' deprivation of political rights for “inciting subversion of state power". Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China's own constitution and fundamental human rights. The campaign to establish universal human rights also in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad. Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China. Oslo, October 8, 2010 Share this: To cite this page MLA style: "The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo - Press Release".

Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 20 Jan 2017. < Liu Xiaobo (2010) - Nobel Peace Prize Winners - Pictures - CBS News Nobel Peace Prize Winners Next Liu Xiaobo (2010) Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo poses for a photographer in this April 2008 photo. Imprisoned Liu won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, Oct. 8, 2010, for "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights," a prize likely to enrage the Chinese government, which had warned the Nobel committee not to honor him. Credit: AP Photo/Kyodo News Barack Obama (2009) The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He is only the third sitting president to receive the honor (Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906, and Woodrow Wilson received it in 1919).

Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon Martti Ahtisaari (2008) Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland, was selected "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts." He is seen here posing with his medal and diploma at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Credit: AP Photo/John McConnico Al Gore and the U.N.'s IPCC (2007) Former Vice President Al Gore, left, and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it. Rajendra K Pachauri, right, is head of the IPCC. Credit: AP Muhammad Yunus (2006) Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus addresses a press conference in Dhaka, Friday, Oct. 13, 2006, after receiving the news of his award.

The economics professor began fighting poverty during a devastating famine in Bangladesh, setting up the tiny Grameen Bank in 1976 to provide access to credit to people too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Credit: Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images Mohamed ElBaradei (2005) Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, right, accepts his prize from Ole Danbolt Mjs, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee at City Hall in Oslo, Norway, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005. ElBaradei shared the award with his International Atomic Energy Agency for efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Credit: AP Photo/John McConnico Wangari Maathai (2004) Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her work as leader of the Green Belt Movement, which has sought to empower women, improve the environment and fight corruption in Africa for almost 30 years. Maathai is seen here speaking on the phone after learning she'd won the honor, Oct 8, 2004, in Ihururu, Kenya.

Credit: AP Shirin Ebadi (2003) Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel peace prize "for her efforts for democracy and human rights." Ebadi, right, is pictured accepting the award from committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjos, Dec. 10, 2003, in Oslo, Norway. Credit: AP Jimmy Carter (2002) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was selected "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter is pictured in a July 8, 2002 file photo. Credit: CBS United Nations and Kofi Annan (2001) The prize was split between the United Nations and its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, of Ghana, "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." U.N. General Assembly President Han Seung-soo, right, and Annan are pictured at the Nobel Peace Awards ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Dec. 10, 2001, in Oslo, Norway.

Credit: AP Kim Dae-jung (2000) South Korean President Kim Dae-jung was selected "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular." Kim, right, is pictured during an audience with Norwegian King Harald, Dec. 10, 2000, in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Ap/Scanpix Credit: AP John Hume and David Trimble (1998) The prize was split between John Hume, a moderate Catholic leader, and David Trimble, leader of the Protestant Ulster Unionists, for their efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Trimble is pictured at left shaking hands with Hume on the eve of the Northern Ireland Referendum, May 21, 1998. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is at center.

Credit: AP International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jody Williams (1997) The prize was split between the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the campaign's coordinator, American Jody Williams, "for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines." Pictured is Tun Channareth, a Cambodian who lost both legs to a land mine, after accepting the award on behalf of the organization, Dec. 10, 1997. Credit: AP Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta (1996) The prize was split between Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and advocate Jose Ramos-Horta, both of East Timor, for their work toward ending the conflict there. Ximenes Belo, right, and Ramos-Horta are pictured during the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 1996.

Credit: AP Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (1995) The prize was split between British atomic scientist Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, "for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms." Rotblat is pictured accepting his award Dec. 10, 1995, in Oslo, Norway. Credit: AP Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres (1994) The prize was split among Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israel's Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East." Peres, with an unidentified aide, is pictured signing the agreement at the White House, Sept. 13, 1993. Looking on from left are Rabin, U.S. President Bill Clinton and Arafat. Credit: AP Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk (1993) The prize was split between South African leaders Nelson R.

Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa." De Klerk, right, and Mandela are seen posing with their prizes in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 1993. Credit: AP Guatemalan Indian rights advocate Rigoberta Mench Credit: AP Aung San Suu Kyi (1991) Activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) was selected "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." Suu Kyi is seen here speaking to reporters during a press conference in Rangoon, Burma, March 4, 1997. Credit: AP Mikhail Gorbachev (1990) Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was selected "for his leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community." Gorbachev is seen here bowing his head in the Congress of People's Deputies shortly after Foreign Minister Edvard Shevardnadze announced his plan to resign, in Moscow, Dec. 20, 1990.

Credit: AP Liu Xiaobo - Facts Liu Xiaobo The Nobel Peace Prize 2010 Liu Xiaobo Copyright © The Nobel Foundation Photo: Bi Yimin Liu Xiaobo Born: 28 December 1955, China Residence at the time of the award: China Prize motivation: "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" Field: human rights Prize share: 1/1 Sentenced for the Crime of Speaking Liu Xiaobo was born on the 28th of December 1955. As a young man he studied literature and philosophy, and worked as a literary critic and university lecturer in Beijing. He took a doctorate in 1988, after which he was a guest lecturer at universities in Europe and the USA. Liu Xiaobo took part in the student protests on Tiananmen Square in 1989. For that he was sentenced to two years in prison. Later he served three years in a labour camp for having criticised China's one-party system. For over twenty years, Liu has fought for a more open and democratic China.

He demands that the Chinese authorities comply with Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution, which lays down that the country's citizens enjoy "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration". In 2008, Liu was a co-author of Charta 08, a manifesto which advocates the gradual shifting of China's political and legal system in the direction of democracy. He was arrested in December 2008, and sentenced a year later to eleven years' imprisonment for undermining the state authorities. Liu has constantly denied the charges. "Opposition is not the same as undermining", he points out.

Copyright © The Norwegian Nobel Institute Share this: Liu Xiaobo Nobel win prompts Chinese fury | World news | The Guardian Liu Xiaobo Nobel win prompts Chinese fury Chinese authorities say awarding peace prize to 'criminal' will hurt relations with Norway Friday 8 October 2010 07.23 EDT First published on Friday 8 October 2010 07.23 EDT Close This article is 6 years old China's best-known dissident, Liu Xiaobo, today won the Nobel peace prize from the prison cell where he is serving 11 years for incitement to subvert state power. The announcement provoked a furious reaction from Chinese authorities, who warned that the decision would hurt relations with Norway . "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Awarding the peace prize to Liu "runs completely counter to the principle of the prize and is also a blasphemy to the peace prize", the statement said. Announcing the prize, the Norwegian Nobel committee praised Liu Xiaobo for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

The … committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace." Liu was detained at his Beijing home in December 2008 after co-authoring Charter 08, a call for democratic reforms in China . Nobel committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland said China should expect to be put under greater scrutiny as it becomes more powerful: "We have to speak when others cannot speak. As China is rising, we should have the right to criticise … we want to advance those forces that want China to become more democratic." As the news was announced, transmission of both BBC news and CNN television channels was interrupted in China. The Chinese foreign ministry repeated earlier warnings that awarding the prize to Liu would damage Sino-Norwegian relations . It gave no details. Xu Youyu, a signatory of Charter 08, said the prize was compensation for the "enormous sacrifice" Liu had made in pursuit of democracy and human rights in China. He added: "Liu Xiaobo is not the only one who is fighting. Behind him, there are many people who are devoting their efforts. Therefore it is not a prize for himself but also for the group of people who are fighting.

Thousands of people who are suffering will be inspired by this news. "This prize means the Chinese people's pursuit of values such as peace, freedom and democracy has been recognized. I believe people's non-violent fight will conquer more difficulties in the future, and I feel more confident about China having a bright future." Liao Yiwu, a fellow writer who has know Liu for more than 20 years, said today: "As Liu's best friend, I am so happy I can't describe what I feel. This is a big moment in Chinese history. It will greatly promote democratic developments in China and it is a huge encouragement to us and our friends." He said the prize was a great reward not only for the author, but for his wife Liu Xia, who had supported Liu throughout his repeated jailings, despite coming under intense pressure from the Chinese authorities. The Dalai Lama said the award represented international recognition for the efforts of Chinese democracy activists, and called on China to release Liu and others "imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression".

In a statement on his website, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel laureate said: "I believe in the years ahead, future generations of Chinese will be able to enjoy the fruits of the efforts that the current Chinese citizens are making towards responsible governance." Czech playwright and former president Václav Havel and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu were among those who had supported Liu for his "unflinching and peaceful advocacy for reform". Liu was first jailed for his role in the Tiananmen Square student reform movement. He also served three years in a labour camp in the 90s. "There was never a question for him of abandoning the struggle, although he was very critical about the [1989 student] movement," said Jean-Philippe Béja, of the Paris-based Centre for International Studies and Research, who first met Liu in the early 90s. "He is a person who wants to live in truth." It is highly unlikely that the 54-year-old author and former academic knows he has won.

His lawyer told him his name had been put forward, but it is thought he knows little about the nomination because he is not permitted to talk about current affairs with visitors to his prison in Jinzhou, Liaoning province. He is allowed to see his relatives for an hour each month . His wife, Liu Xia, had said she believed he was unlikely to win the prize, but that she thought the attention he gained had won him better conditions in prison. Several Chinese dissidents took the bold step of signing a letter supporting his nomination. In an article backing him for the prize, the philosopher Xu Youyu wrote: "His activities in 1989 can be seen as formative in the entirety of his following writings and other works, characterised by an unwavering bravery and refusal to back down in the face of danger and suppression, by the pursuit and defence of human rights, humanism, peace and other universal values and, finally, adherence to the practice of rational dialogue, compromise and non-violence." China's leading dissident has been awarded the Nobel peace prize.

The Guardian's Tania Branigan reports from Beijing, where police have cordoned off Liu's wife house Published: 8 Oct 2010 Four years on, Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo still unable to collect prize from Chinese prison - Telegraph China Four years on, Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo still unable to collect prize from Chinese prison As Malala Yousafzai wins this year's award, human rights groups call for 2010 winner Liu Xiaobo not to be forgotten as he remains locked in a Chinese jail serving an 11-year sentence The empty chair with a diploma and medal that should have been awarded to Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo stands in Oslo City Hall Photo: 2010 AFP Follow Four years after Chinese university professor Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work campaigning for democratic rights in China – he has still not been able to collect his prize in person. Leading human rights groups called on Friday for Liu, 58, not to be forgotten as he remains locked in a Chinese jail serving an 11-year sentence for circulating his 'Charter 08’ petition that called for greater democratic rights in China.

His wife, Liu Xia, who has never committed a crime, remains under house arrest in Beijing and was admitted to hospital earlier this year. While expressing “delight” at the awards for Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, leading human rights groups who have campaigned for Liu’s release said that the plight of the 2010 laureate must not be forgotten. “We cannot forget that another Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo remains imprisoned four years on since being awarded his Prize,” Kate Allen, the UK director of Amnesty International told The Telegraph, “Amnesty continues to campaign tirelessly for Liu Xiaobo’s release.” Related Articles Lang Lang demonstrates piano techniques 18 Oct 2014 Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch added: “While it is marvellous to see the efforts around education and freeing children from slavery being honoured, that is tempered by some extent knowing that Liu Xiaobo still has five years to go in prison for doing nothing more than speaking his mind,” Liu was a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations that left several hundred dead after China’s ruling Communist Party sent in tanks to crush the protests.

He was represented by an empty chair at the awards ceremony in Oslo in 2010. The decision to award him the prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China” infuriated Beijing who immediately froze diplomatic ties with Norway in retaliation. This week a US report by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China warned that China’s human rights record has worsened in key areas over the past year and that limits on free speech and assembly are growing. Critics of the prize noted that the Nobel Committee, which is independent of the Norwegian government, had this year shied away from more politically difficult choices, such as Edward Snowden, who leaked US surveillance secrets or Russia’s opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Liu Xiaobo is Awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize | World History Project Oct 8 2010 Liu Xiaobo is Awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Liu Xiaobo, an irrepressible, chain-smoking Chinese dissident imprisoned last year for subversion, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for helping to spearhead a campaign for more freedom in China.

In a statement, the Nobel Committee said Liu, 54, deserved the prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Analysts said the honor was aimed in part at increasing pressure on China to ease its crackdown on religious and political activists. But China's government told reporters the committee had violated its own principles by giving the award to a "criminal." Source: 'China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize'; John Pomfret, The Washington Post, October 8, 2010, Added by: Colin Harris With just a day until the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, the usual whirl of speculation over the winner is in full force, with many human rights advocates contending that an imprisoned Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, has emerged as the favorite. If selected, Mr. Liu, a former literature professor who has spent the last 20 years cycling in and out of Chinese jails for championing democratic reform, would be the first Chinese citizen to win the prize.

The prospect has clearly alarmed Beijing, so much so that the Nobel Institute’s director said last week that a senior Chinese official had warned him such a decision would “pull the wrong strings in relations between Norway and China.” Source: 'Unusual Opposition to a Favorite for Nobel'; Andrew Jacobs and Johnathan Ansfield, The New York Times, October 6, 2010, Added by: Colin Harris After imprisoned Chinese scholar Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize last week, this joke began to make the rounds of Chinese-language Twitter users: "I don't know who this Mr. Liu is, but as a Chinese, I'm very happy for a fellow citizen to win the Nobel Prize. He must be one of our great party members, a great official ... and a great leader who does great deeds for his people." Liu, or course, is neither an official nor a Communist Party member. He is a literary critic and a leader of the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing that were crushed by the Chinese military. In 2008 he co-authored Charter 08, a manifesto calling for broad political reforms in China.

In the eyes of the Chinese government, he is a criminal, and he is now serving an 11-year sentence at a prison in northeast China for "inciting subversion of state power" in connection with Charter 08 and other essays he wrote. Source: 'In China, News About Nobel Winner Liu Xiaobo Is Scarce'; Austin Ramzy, TIME, October 11, 2010, Added by: Colin Harris The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The laureate, a little-known figure inside China due to official censorship, is a veteran of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and co-author of the Charter 08 manifesto for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison by Chinese authorities on 25 December 2009. Liu was chosen over a record number of nominations – more than 200 – to receive the award. Intellectuals and politicians from the international community praised the decision, although the Chinese government bitterly attacked the decision.

Heavy official censorship was applied on the Internet, on television and in the print media inside China following the announcement. The Chinese government denounced the award as "blasphemy", and summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing "to officially share their opinion, their disagreement and their protest." Chinese citizens who attempted to celebrate were arrested. Liu's wife was put under house arrest before the Nobel Committee's decision was announced. In November, the Chinese Embassy in Oslo circulated a Note verbale to all other foreign diplomatic missions in Oslo requesting that their countries do not attend the award ceremony on 10 December. Liu is the first Chinese person (excluding the 14th Dalai Lama, a refugee) to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China (several Chinese scientists had previously received Nobel Prizes for work done outside the country, and Chinese-born French national Gao Xingjian was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000).

Liu is also the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention, after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). Source: Wikipedia Added by: Colin Harris More information China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize Gallery Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 8, 2010; 5:20 PM The first citizen of the People's Republic of China to win a Nobel prize was awarded the honor Friday for advocating greater freedom in his country. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement that Liu Xiaobo - a prickly, chain-smoking dissident of moderate views - deserved the Nobel Peace Prize because of "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Liu, 54, who is nearing the end of the first year of an 11-year prison sentence for subversion, becomes only the second person to win the peace prize while incarcerated, following German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who won it in 1935 while jailed by the Nazis.

President Obama, last year's Nobel peace laureate , called on China to release Liu and said the award reminded the world that while "China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, . . . political reform has not kept pace." Analysts said the honor appeared aimed at pressuring China to ease the crackdown on religious and political activists that has been a hallmark of President Hu Jintao's tenure. China's government denounced the award as "a desecration" and said the honor should have gone to someone focused on promoting international friendship and disarmament. "Liu Xiaobo is a sentenced criminal who has violated Chinese law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said, adding that honoring Liu "runs counter to the principles of the Nobel Peace Prize." Liu's win underscored the limits of China's influence even as the country emerges as a global power. In the run-up to the decision, China warned Norway that selecting Liu would affect mutual ties and dispatched a Foreign Ministry official to Oslo to press its case. The two countries are in the process of negotiating a free-trade deal, and Norway's oil industry - a crucial sector of its economy - wants to boost its business dealings in China.

In a sign that it was unwilling to be cowed, however, Norway's government chose to publicize the Beijing official's ostensibly private visit. The award also highlights another issue facing China as it makes the transition from developed country to superpower. As it has risen, China has lived by a dictum of Deng Xiaoping, the man who opened Communist China to the West: "Hide in the shadows, and focus on building ourselves." But China can no longer "hide in the shadows." It boasts the world's second-largest economy. Its appetites - for iron ore, natural gas and oil - roil markets around the world. Yet with size comes discomfiting scrutiny. "China has become a big power in economic terms, as well as political terms," observed Thorbjoern Jagland, the Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman, "and it is normal that big powers should be under criticism." China, however, does not view such criticism as normal. Liu is serving his 11-year sentence at Jinzhou prison in Liaoning, hundreds of miles from his home and from his wife, Liu Xia, in Beijing.

In an interview shortly before the announcement, Liu Xia said she was thankful that her husband's physical condition seems to have improved in jail and grateful that he has been allowed to read and exchange regular letters with her. "We have no regrets," she said. "All of this has been of our choosing. It will always be so. We'll bear the consequences together." A prize with resonance Analysts predicted that in the short term, China's one-party state would react to the award by intensifying an already stringent campaign against dissidents, religious activists and nongovernmental organizations. Although China outwardly appears strong, with a world-beating economic growth rate, prosecutions for "state security" offenses are approaching numbers not seen since the bloody crackdown on student-led protests around Tiananmen Square in 1989. But in the long term, a wide spectrum of Chinese and foreigners said, Liu's award could resonate more deeply within China than any similar act in years - significantly more than the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Dalai Lama in 1989, say, or the Nobel Prize in Literature given to dissident writer Gao Xingjian in 2000.

In the first place, Liu's status as the first mainland Chinese citizen to win a Nobel prize matters deeply in a nation that craves recognition by the West. (The Dalai Lama - who on Friday urged China to free Liu - has refugee status. Gao is a French citizen. And several Chinese-born physics prize winners, including Daniel Tsui in 1998 and Charles Kao last year, have also taken on other citizenships.) Second, Liu is profoundly moderate. Unlike the exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng, who criticized Liu on Friday for being too understanding of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu has never advocated revolution. As such, he has escaped the sentence of irrelevance meted out to so many of his dissident contemporaries. "You can say whatever you want in China today," he said in an interview with The Washington Post in 2002 , acknowledging the huge strides made toward personal freedom since economic reforms began in the late 1970s. Then he added: "As long as you do it alone." 'A moth to the flame' The crime that brought Liu his current, and longest, sentence was volunteering to have his name lead a list of signatories to a manifesto known as Charter 08.

Modeled on the Charter 77 movement in Cold War-era Czechoslovakia, Charter 08 called for greater freedom of expression, association, assembly and religion, meaningful elections and a judiciary not controlled by the Communist Party. To date, more than 8,000 people have signed it. Published on Dec. 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the charter was intended "to put a stake in the ground and say here's an alternate vision of China," said Perry Link, a renowned China scholar who helped the group translate its manifesto into English. "It was definitely a long-term program." Link, who spent a month with Liu and others as the manifesto went from one draft to another, recalled that Liu did not start out as a leader of the group. "But once he saw it was going somewhere, he naturally volunteered to be out front," Link said. Liu didn't hog publicity, Link added. "He just doesn't shrink from putting his head on the line. He was like a moth to the flame." Liu had taken such risks before.

In 1989, he left a comfortable post as a visiting scholar at Columbia University to return to China to participate in demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, after which he was jailed. After Liu's sentencing last year, his attorney released a simple statement by his client: "I have long been aware that when an independent intellectual stands up to an autocratic state, step one toward freedom is often a step into prison," it said. "Now I am taking that step; and true freedom is that much nearer." Correspondent William Wan in Beijing contributed to this report. © 2010 The Washington Post Company Liu Xiaobo won Nobel Peace Prize 2010-Ceremony-part1 - YouTube Liu Xiaobo won Nobel Peace Prize 2010-Ceremony-part1 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Dec 10, 2010 Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010. Liu Xiaobo (pronunciation: [ljǒʊ̯ ɕjɑ̀ʊ̯pɔ́]; born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for democratic reforms and the end of communist one-party rule in China.[1] He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner in the People's Republic of China. He has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained in response to his participation with Charter 08.

He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power."[2][3] He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009,[4] and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.[5] During his 4th prison term, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."[6][7][8] He is the first Chinese person to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China.[9] He is the fourth person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention, after Nazi Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935), the Soviet Union's Andrei Sakharov (1975), and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). And Liu is the first person since Von Ossietzky to be denied the right to have a representative collect the Nobel prize for him.

(source: wikipedia) Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize - USATODAY.com Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize Updated Enlarge By Kin Cheung, AP Pro-democracy protesters hold the picture of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo with Chinese words 'Release Liu Xiaobo' during a demonstration outside the China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong on Friday. WINNERS OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE SINCE 1980 2010: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo 2009: President Obama Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , Al Gore 2005: International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei 1997: International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams 1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jose Ramos-Horta , Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs 1994: 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi 1990: 1989: The 14th Dalai Lama 1988: U.N.

Peacekeeping Forces 1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War 1984: 1982: Alva Myrdal, Alfonso Garcia Robles 1981: Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel -- The Associated Press OSLO (AP)  Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for using non-violence to demand fundamental human rights in his homeland. The award ignited a furious response from China , which accused the Norwegian Nobel Committee of violating its own principles by honoring "a criminal." Chinese state media immediately blacked out the news and Chinese government censors blocked Nobel prize reports from Internet websites. This year's peace prize followed a long tradition of honoring dissidents around the world, although it was the first Nobel for China's dissident community since it resurfaced after the country's communist leadership launched economic but not political reforms three decades ago. Liu, 54, was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison for subversion.

Unlike some in China's highly fractured and persecuted dissident community, he has been an ardent advocate for peaceful, gradual political change rather than confrontation with the government. The Nobel committee praised Liu's pacifist approach, ignoring not-so-subtle threats by Chinese diplomats even before the announcement that such a decision would result in strained ties with Norway . The committee cited Liu's participation in the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989 and the Charter 08 document he recently co-authored, which called for greater freedom in China and an end to the Communist Party's political dominance. Chinese authorities would not allow access to Liu on Friday. In Beijing, his wife expressed her joy at the news. Surrounded by police at their Beijing apartment, Liu Xia was not allowed out to meet reporters. Instead she gave brief remarks by phone and text message, saying she was happy and that she planned to go Saturday to deliver the news to Liu at the prison, 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. Hong Kong Cable Television quoted her in a Twitter message as saying that Liu will draw encouragement from the award and she hoped to go to Norway to collect the prize if he could not.

"I believe that after the award, more people will put pressure on the Chinese side," the message quoted her as saying. China's Foreign Ministry lashed out at the Nobel decision, saying the award should been used instead to promote international friendship and disarmament. "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law," the statement said. Awarding the peace prize to Liu "runs completely counter to the principle of the prize and is also a blasphemy to the peace prize." It said the decision would damage bilateral relations between China and Norway. In China, broadcasts of the announcement by CNN were blacked out. Popular Internet sites removed coverage of the Nobel prizes, placed prominently in recent days for the science awards. Messages about "Xiaobo" to Sina Microblog, a Twitter-like service run by Internet portal Sina.com , were quickly deleted. Attempts to send mobile text messages with the Chinese characters for Liu Xiaobo failed. The Nobel committee said China, as a growing economic and political power, needed to take more responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens.

"China has become a big power in economic terms as well as political terms, and it is normal that big powers should be under criticism," prize committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said, calling Liu Xiaobo (LEE-o SHAo-boh) a symbol for the fight for human rights in China. More than a dozen friends and supporters of Liu gathered near the entrance to Ditan Park in central Beijing, holding up placards congratulating Liu. They shouted "Long Live Freedom of Speech, Long Live Democracy" and wore yellow ribbons on their clothes to signify, they said, their wish that he be freed. The small demonstration, initially undisturbed by police, pointed out the troubling status of China's dissident community. Liu is almost unknown in China except among political activists. Passersby on foot and bike did not stop, ignoring the demonstration. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told national broadcaster NRK he saw no grounds for China to punish Norway as a country for the award. "I think that would be negative for China's reputation in the world, if they chose to do that," Stoltenberg said.

Only one other Nobel peace laureate is imprisoned: Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi , who was awarded the 1991 prize and has been detained 15 of the past 21 years. She is due to be released from house arrest Nov. 13, a week after Myanmar's first elections in two decades. Suu Kyi's political party won the last elections in 1990 but the ruling junta never allowed it to take power. The Nobel citation said China's new world status must entail increased responsibility. "China is in breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory, as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights," it said, citing an article in China's constitution about freedom of speech and assembly. "In practice, these freedoms have proved to be distinctly curtailed for China's citizens." The Charter 08 document called was an intentional echo of Charter 77, the famous call for human rights in then-Czechoslovakia that led to the 1989 Velvet Revolution that swept away communist rule. "The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer," Charter 08 says.

Thousands of Chinese signed Charter 08, and the Communist Party took the document as a direct challenge. Police arrested Liu hours before Charter 08 was due to be released in December 2008. Given a brief trial last Christmas Day, Liu was convicted of subversion for writing Charter 08 and other political tracts and sentenced to 11 years in prison. "Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China," the award citation said. Jagland told The Associated Press that the committee had not tried to reach the imprisoned laureate or his wife, but they would try to make contact with the Chinese Embassy in Oslo. In a year with a record 237 nominations for the peace prize, Liu had been considered a favorite, with open support from winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu , the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and others. When the Tibet-born Dalai Lama won the peace prize in 1989, both the Chinese government and some of the public were angry — the exiled Buddhist leader was endlessly vilified in official propaganda as a traitor for his calls for more autonomy for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama on Friday issued his public congratulations to Liu. "I would like to take this opportunity to renew my call to the government of China to release Liu Xiaobo and other prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression" the Dalai Lama said. The son of a soldier, Liu joined China's first wave of university students in the mid-1970s after the chaotic decade of the Cultural Revolution. Liu's writing first took a political turn in 1988, when he became a visiting scholar in Oslo — his first time outside China. Liu cut short a visiting scholar stint at Columbia University months later to join the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989. He and three other older activists famously persuaded students to peacefully leave the square hours before the deadly June 4 crackdown. Liu went to prison after the crackdown and was released in early 1991 because he had repented and "performed major meritorious services," state media said at the time, without elaborating. Still, five years later Liu was sent to a re-education camp for three years for co-writing an open letter that demanded the impeachment of then-President Jiang Zemin .

President Obama won the Nobel peace prize last year. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted E-mail | Print | To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com . Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more .

Nobel peace prize goes to Liu Xiaobo | World news | The Guardian Nobel peace prize goes to Liu Xiaobo China's best-known dissident, who is serving 11 years in prison, is probably unaware he has won prize Friday 8 October 2010 05.21 EDT First published on Friday 8 October 2010 05.21 EDT Close This article is 6 years old China's best-known dissident today won the prestigious Nobel peace prize from the prison cell where he is serving 11 years for incitement to subvert state power. The Norwegian Nobel committee praised Liu Xiaobo for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The ... committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace." As the news was announced, transmission of both BBC news and CNN television channels was interrupted in China . Liu Xiaobo. Photograph: Liu Xia Liu was detained at his Beijing home in December 2008 after co-authoring Charter 08, a call for democratic reforms in China . The decision will infuriate the Chinese government.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman said last week that awarding Liu the prize would contradict the aims of the award . The director of Norway's Nobel institute said a senior Chinese official had warned that Sino-Norwegian relations would be damaged if Liu won. Today, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said China should expect to be put under greater scrutiny as it becomes more powerful: "We have to speak when others cannot speak. As China is rising, we should have the right to criticise ... We want to advance those forces that want China to become more democratic." Czech playwright and former president Václav Havel and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu were among those who had supported Liu for his "unflinching and peaceful advocacy for reform". Liu was first jailed for his role in the Tiananmen Square student reform movement. He also served three years in a labour camp in the 90s. "There was never a question for him of abandoning the struggle, although he was very critical about the [1989 student] movement," said Jean-Philippe Béja, of the Paris-based Centre for International Studies and Research, who first met Liu in the early 90s.

"He is a person who wants to live in truth." It is highly unlikely that the 54-year-old author and former academic knows he has won. His lawyer told him his name had been put forward, but it is thought he knows little about the nomination because he is not permitted to talk about current affairs with visitors to his prison in Jinzhou, Liaoning province. He is allowed to see his relatives for an hour each month . His wife, Liu Xia, had said she believed he was unlikely to win the prize, but that she thought the attention he gained had won him better conditions in prison. Several Chinese dissidents took the bold step of signing a letter supporting his nomination. In an article backing him for the prize, the philosopher Xu Youyu wrote: "His activities in 1989 can be seen as formative in the entirety of his following writings and other works, characterised by an unwavering bravery and refusal to back down in the face of danger and suppression, by the pursuit and defence of human rights, humanism, peace and other universal values and, finally, adherence to the practice of rational dialogue, compromise and non-violence." China's leading dissident has been awarded the Nobel peace prize.

The Guardian's Tania Branigan reports from Beijing, where police have cordoned off Liu's wife house Published: 8 Oct 2010

Question: What prize was won in 2010 by Liu Xiaobo?
Answer: NOBEL PEACE PRIZE